I’ve spent a total of 10 days outside of the United States now, the longest time since I have been alive, according to my knowledge. It has caused some interesting results. I realized that I am inextricably connected to the people who I am familiar with in my life, and being without them decreases my mood significantly, and without contact to them decreases my mood sharply.

I am not alone in this fact. There are many studies that show that people who have more social connections lead happier lives. I am lucky in that I am technologically ept and can connect to my near and dear in a number of ways, and be resourceful in finding other ways to contact them if necessary. I feel that I am lucky to live in a time which it is possible for me to spend so much time apart and still be in connection with people. I am also lucky that I was born in a geological area which enables me to be as such.

At the same time, I am sad to leave this place. It is a nice area, with good food and a very long history. As Nikos reminded me the other day, it is the birthplace of Democracy, which I hold to a fairly high regard. It is also the birthplace of modern medicine, and a significant portion of many early sciences. The wealth of the nation as a whole and as parts is clear to me, and I wish to return.

I’ve learned part of the language while I am here, and it has made me more cognizant of communication with other cultures. People in Athens seemed put off when I tried to talk in Greek, but in Kos they were at the worst amused at my attempts. The language may not be as romantic to learn as French or Italian, and may not be as useful in the long term as Latin, but it would be interesting to speak nonetheless. I am tempted to start working on some of the i18n Greek QA issues in Debian — It would help me learn the language more, and also keep me aware of the issues in software when you start working with other countries’ characters. I have been lucky to be using a MacBook this entire time with decent Greek support, allowing me to type at least some greek while I was here. It helped me understand even more of the language – I now know mostly the numbers 1-9 at least.

The trip has highlighted for me something which is highly lacking in airports: power. Every airport that I have been to has prominently displayed the signs of wireless access, and has people using their laptops in almost every direction you can look (I am one of those), but they are sorely without power points for people who are using those laptops. This may be a designed flaw in order to save energy, but I don’t really believe that 50 or even 5,000 laptops at 65-150W will put a significant dent in the power grid at somewhere as large as an airport, where LCD screens are running 24/7 with ads and bright lights illuminate every corner for all to be seen. I won’t even start talking about the airplanes themselves.

All in all, the trip has been a happy one, and I would very much repeat it. I will make different decisions on lodging at some places and probably plan a shorter trip. I however wholly endorse Greece as a vacation spot, and even would consider moving here if offered a position (that would depend highly on Diana as well, obviously). I find it entirely favorable. I hope that this small series on the site has caused you, the reader some pleasure at least, even if it was at my expense.

Now begins the long trip home, on three planes and with 14.5 hours in the airplane and 18 hours in total. It’ll be only 10 hours counting local time, unfortunately — the jet lag will, I’m sure, be horrible.

I finished the experiments and data gathering and the internet came back on just in time for me to download Gnumeric and get some of the stats working correctly. The final presentation didn’t change that much, only changing on one slide and adding one small table, but the added result was significant enough to justify all of the work that it entailed. Indeed, it proved that the entire premise of the paper and simulation was valid. That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The talk was at 3:30, the first in a session which was mostly unrelated papers. I don’t feel as bad because many of the other papers were kind of a hodge-podge as well, and we were probably all placed in the session because we didn’t really fit anywhere else. I met a nice researcher who was chairing the session because the actual chair was presenting in another session (something we had worked out with software in the ICRA2006 schedule, but apparently wasn’t taken into account here). The actual presentation went well, and Nikos lent me his laser pointer which added a little to the presentation I believe. Nikos said the talk was good, but I also got a comment that it was well-presented later in the day from a unrelated researcher. I was so-so about the presentation until I got the unsolicited comment.

After the talk I called up Diana on Skype and chatted for a while, but the network was too flaky at the conference, so she called my cell phone. Using Skype is one of the things that I have done more in this trip than I have done before ever. It is really a wonderful program and network for people who are far away from each other, and it actually has much more impact when you consider the costs of calling home with other methods. I estimate I saved about $200 in just three days of Skype calling instead of regular calling, even with calling to cell phones in the US every once in a while, and with Diana calling my Hellenic cell phone when my network was flaky as well. It is much more of a disruptive technology in the non-US world where every call isn’t already paid for.

The banquet was next. Usually I don’t like going to banquets, but this was set up different than the normal ones that accompany these conferences. Instead of a large service crew bringing out fancy food to a large set of tables, it was setup in a buffet with a large selection of Greek food so you could pick and choose your favorites and even go back for more food if you liked. I ended up trying a large variety of foods and discovering some new tastes that I hadn’t had before. It was throughly enjoyable especially when listening to the others at my table of which three or four were Greek.

Then it was back to the hotel by bus, and an early bedtime in order to stock up on sleep for the long hours in the next day. Today I plan on just relaxing, sleeping a bit when I get tired, and maybe trying out some local snacks. I’ve already arranged for a Taxi. The last installment will be written from the Athens airport tomorrow.

Kos is an insane tourist island, very filled with shops where you can buy anything you would need on a vacation to a beach – sunglasses, maps, ice cream, etc. There are also far too many restaurants and coffee shops. They are literally every block or so, and sometimes even more frequent. The restaurant I found last night is definitely not the exception, but they do make good food. After arriving in Kos town, I walked around for a while, and looked at the Hippocrates Tree that they have here (he was born here apparently), and then found a bus stop and waited for the Bus to come by. It was a good thing I did, because Psalidi and the hotel were still another 5-6km down the road easily.

Noone was at the conference center, being closed for registration, so I used the conference wired access shortly (wireless wasn’t working) and checked email and enjoyed the cooling power of the AC. After that I walked across the street and had lunch at a small taverna. I had a gyro pita but it wasn’t very good at all. Usually I have gyros without tomato and onion, but on this trip I decided that I should try one with everything. Not only didn’t I like the tomato and onion, but the meat was very dry and tough. I wish I hadn’t had the meal there.

I got a snack from the store next door, and then waited for the bus and went back to the Gaia Garden. I hooked up with Diana on Skype and we got to talk for a while after we worked out some issues with her mic. That was really great because I was able to use my MacBook’s camera and she could see me while we chatted. I could be called an early adopter, but skype and video have been together for a while. I still think we’re on the leading edge of the curve though. Video for long-distance chats is a big plus. It’s not as useful for ordinary conversations done every day on the phone, but I can see a major advantage when you can’t really physically see the person for a while.

One thing that I noticed about Greece (Ελλάζ) is that there are very different rules about restaurants. As far as I can tell, you walk in and sit down wherever you like, and then you get a menu and order. I was very not used to this at first, but I am now preferring it to the American style of being seated in a specific section. The meal then continues basically as normal until the end. When you are done with your meal, you have to ask for the check. This is different, but it bugs me somewhat. When I am done with my meal I want to leave the restaurant. From a restaurant perspective, it doesn’t cost them anything to have you sitting there for a bit longer, so there’s no real rush to get the check to you – unless they are full and people are waiting. The restaurant looks more busy, and you might just decide to order something else. However, after years of training that asking for the check is rude to the waiter/waitress, I can’t get used to asking for it every time. It’ just grates on me. It doesn’t help that I don’t know if I’m actually being rude or not. I assume I am not because I’ve sat for 15-20 minutes without getting the check before.

I went to the same restaurant yesterday that I went to two days ago, and at about the same time. It really does have good food, and it is not busy when I want to eat which is around 10pm, and they also have some interesting sport on the monitors (volleyball tournament, track and field). The server was surprised when I ordered the dishes in Greek (ΦΙΛΑ ΚΑΡΙ and ΠΟΡΤΑΚΟΛΑΔΑ, in this case) and asked me where I was from, and whether I had been to Greece before. Also where I was staying. I was happy that he was surprised and at least seemed pleased. He asked if I wanted coffee or ouzo after I finished, and I apparently got some coffee free – the coffee was excellent too. I think I’ll go back again today.

Today, the actual conference. Hopefully they will have the wireless worked out by then.

They say that this airport was built new for the Olympics, but it is not that great. It is like a normal airport, with some extra things because it was built recently. There is still surprisingly no power outlets. I love how all the new airports advertise that they have wireless internet, but they are crap for power. The security checkpoint is very near the gate, which is good because you can get in and wait for your flight, but bad because you can’t really estimate how bad the wait will be at security, and there is nothing to shop at or eat after you get through your security. I wish they would just put the security near the ticket counters, like normal airports have, then you would at least be able to relax knowing that you had gotten through security and could definitely make your flight.

The flight was changed gate after I got there (less than an hour before my flight) and also delayed, I assume because the plane wasn’t ready or something. When I finally got to the gate and the plane was going to take off, we got on a bus and rode it out onto the tarmac. It was interesting to me because I hadn’t ever been on a plane where you had to board it from the tarmac before, but it was just like a normal plane inside if a little less luxury. The flight was full to the brim, partially I am sure because of the conference – the guy sitting next to me was for sure going to ECC07, and there were other passengers with a ECC05 bag so they were probably going as well. It was at least short at about 45 minutes. I watched an episode of anime, and they came by with orange juice and pita chips with cinnamon and sugar on them that were rather good. I may see if I can find some at a shop in Kos.

Landing at Kos was smooth, and looking over the Mediterranean was nice as well while flying. The airport is really small, but still prominently displays that it is an international airport – then again, you could probably swim to another country from here. Baggage was no problem as it was the only plane landing at the time. I got a cab and rode 25 minutes or so to my hotel in Lambi.

After the stay at the horrible hotel in Athens, I was pleased to arrive at Gaia garden and find that they had my reservation on hand and didn’t need any proof. Also I didn’t need to pay until the end of the stay. The difference in a 45 minute flight’s distance and 10 euro of room fare is amazing. The room is nice, with tile floors, and well kept. There is a large pool and a bar in the hotel that has free drinks (from a limited list) for guests. The hotel staff are very nice and explained to me everything, and even walked me to my room to show it to me. There is still a thing that you need to put your key into in order to turn the power on, but I am completely happy with it as it works every time and I don’t need to worry about it. The bathroom is well-kept and they were even very nice to me when I broke a glass on the floor shaving. I can not recommend more highly the Gaia Garden hotel in Lampi, Kos. I will definitely return if I take another trip to Greece. I may post pictures on Flickr of both hotel rooms if I can figure out how to get pictures off of my phone (it was working earlier, but is not working now).

The best thing about this place is that it has free wireless internet. It is blocked by a WEP password, but it is easily attainable at the desk. I can use Skype in my room and talk to Diana for 0.01€ instead of 0.98€ If I was running the hotel, I would sign up for some VoIP service and offer free international calls – it has cost me about $1 since I got here to talk to Di for ages, and it has helped my outlook nicely – they should be able to charge $5 more and make money on the deal. The Internet is not completely reliable, but I don’t mind that much at all – it’s just slightly annoying if I get cut off from Di while talking and don’t have a chance to say good bye.

I spent a bunch of time in my room using the Internet, and then walked down the street at about 11pm. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find anything, but found a restaurant which is very nice that was open and had very good Souvlaki. Then back to the hotel to try Internet again, and go to sleep. It was very relaxing. I know why people come to the islands of Greece now: it is much more relaxing than Athens was. I was worried about everything in Athens, and on edge. Here I am very relaxed. Today I will try to find the conference hotel, and look around Kos town a little. I plan to walk a decent distance, and judge the bus service here so I know how long it will take to get to the conference on Tue-Thu. Then relaxation some more, and I think I will visit that place again today late. That was nice, this island is very nice at night.

After that, I went down and saw Ancient Agora, which was mostly just a big piece of land with ruins on it at this point. The remains were interesting in relation the pictures that they had of the place when it was still being used, but otherwise the only really interesting building was the remaining temple which was well preserved. I was supposed to meet with Hyeun at the station at 3pm, but it was only 2pm, so I walked through the flea market near Monostiraki station a little bit, and discovered a much more convenient Germanos store where I bought a bunch more talk time for my Cell phone, and had them put the code in because I couldn’t understand the greek instructions that the phone company was telling me. I had 66€ more talk time at that point, so I texted some nice things to my honey at home.

After that I met with Hyeun at the station and we walked around for a while looking for a restaurant, and finally settled on one where you could see Acropolis from the chairs. The clouds then came rolling in and we experienced some rare rain in Athens, but it was nice. The meal was expensive in comparison to all the other meals – almost 35€. It was worth it though, because I hadn’t had anything really to eat that day. Hyeun expressed interest in going to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and since we both had valid tickets (the tickets work for.. 6 places I think) we went to see it. It was a short walk from Acropoli station and interesting to see because of the standing and one fallen Corinthian columns. We stopped at a cafe near there for a drink and then went back to the hotel. I talked to my sweetie and then played some games for a while, and then went to sleep rather early, all used up from my extensive walking tour.

One thing that I noted was that the so-called “bad” part of town that I was in, and the “good” part of town (near Plaka) were not incredibly different. If you got off of the main tourist drags, they could be confused for each other easily. Breakfast at the Hotel, and then the Flight to Kos. Goodbye, Athens, for now.

Afterwards Hyeun and I went to a restaurant that we hadn’t been to before and I had more σουβλακι. The meal was good but not as good as some others that I had been at. Hopefully I will be able to get to Psiri and at least one ouzeri while I am here. After lunch, I was dead tired from working on my presentation at the night and also waking up earlier than I usually would. I decided to go back to the hotel and talk to Diana a bit, which was very nice because I hadn’t had much time to talk to her the night before. I ran out of minutes though, and need to buy more. She was happy to hear from me and clearly through the new phone. Even with the cheaper rates of the pre-pay cellphone I only get about 45 minutes per 33€.

The rest of the day and night was spent sleeping – I don’t think I had slept so much in my entire life! The thing is, that being in a foreign country with a foreign language is very psychologically tiring for me. I am always worried and self-conscious about trying to speak the language and I think that everyone who I even attempt to resents me for even attempting it. So I only try in small bursts, and then retreat into my shell a little more until I get the courage to try again. I really wish that I had someone who knew Greek that I could practice with so that I am not so self-conscious. That is one thing that I think I will do differently when I travel again – I will try to find someone via Skype that talks the language and wants to practice english, and also is willing to put up with me trying to learn basic conversational whatever.

I woke up around eleven and played a game or two, but then went back to sleep again. Breakfast was later because there is no conference to go to today. I was planning on spending the day in, but I think I will go to Acropolis and look around, and possibly go to a museum which is on the tourist map I got at the airport that advertises some Escher paintings in it’s permanent collection – I would very much like to see those as I am a great fan of his work. I feel kind of bad going without Diana, but I am sure we will return and go. It is a nice place after all, and I think would be even nicer if I wasn’t staying in such a horrible hotel. I hope to have cell camera photos of the hotel for you tomorrow on my new phone.

Now I am sitting at a Starbucks, getting ready to walk a while to Ακροπολ. The only reason that I am here really is to be on the Internet for a few minutes – it is a place I know that I can connect. One thing that I have been very pleased with while I was here was the availability, ease and general cleanliness of the Μετρο (Metro) – it has been enjoyable every time, except for one trip I took yesterday where it was packed to the gills and a tourist family was taking up a lot of space. I would be more incensed with them, but I remember that I am also a tourist and probably am annoying everyone around me, although hopefully not as much as them! Anyway the Metro is very nice here, and they use a similar system to the Minneapolis light rail where you buy the ticket and get it validated, and then you can ride without having to go through turnstiles or whatever. There are people apparently who check tickets for validation every once in a while, but I haven’t seen them. The tickets are also a very reasonable 0,80€, which amounts to about $1.

After the ordeal on Wednesday, I had a mission Thursday: get a phone that would work in Greece. I wasn’t all that interested in the talks that were being given that day, so I figured that it would work out. I meant to stop at one of the stores that I had previously walked by on my way to Viktoria station, but they were all closed at 9am – stores open kind of late here, apparently. I gave up on the search until later in the day.

The next stop was the national gallery, which has a lot of very nice paintings in it. I was particularly took by a fairly small painting of a girl at a window – I don’t know why but I could easily look at it for a half hour or more I feel. There was also many Greek artists’ work, and some very large work there. I was there with Hyeun for about an hour looking at everything. Hyeun noted that there wasn’t much from before the 18th century there. I think she thought we were going to go to the archaeological museum.

After that, we went to the conference hotel where I posted the previously-written posts from yesterday (parts one and two) and then went to lunch at a bistro near the hotel. I’m somewhat surprised about the price of some things here, they are very different than in the US. Here a 500ml coke bottle is 2-3€ or so, but a large Carbonara plate is only 5€ where it would be about $9-$10 in the states. So I have spent much less than I had anticipated.

After lunch, I took upon the cell phone task yet again. The conference hotel directed me towards a cell store ΓΕΡΜΑΝΟΣ, which was about a mile away. I expected it to be quicker and wandered around looking for it a while, then went back and asked to see where it was on a map.

I found it and looked at phones for a while, and finally settled on a Motorola L6 for 135€ which is tri-band and I believe unlocked as many of the phones that were available were. The seller was kind enough for me to switch it to English so I could use it. I had to charge it for a while before I could use it, and it seems to be working fine. I am hoping that I can sell it to someone else for a reasonable recoup if my old phone is actually still usable in the states. I did look it up and I should be able to use this phone in the twin cities if my old phone is broken. Also, I can’t find my old T-Mobile SIM anywhere. Does anyone know if I can get it replaced easily?

After that walk, I was sweating like crazy so I stopped at the restaurant in the hotel where everything is very expensive – a 250ml soda was 5€! I then did boring thing like work on my talk for Friday and also check email, but I managed to meet a nice french guy named Guillame and another guy who works in robotics. They were generally nice and interesting to talk to, so I sat near them at the banquet which happened later that night. The banquet was basically standard fare for conferences, not excellent.

It was quite late when we finished, so I shared a taxi with Hyeun to get back to the hotel. The driver turned off the meter at the end and wrote a handwritten receipt while charging us more than what the meter showed when we stopped. I think we might have gotten scammed because many sites say that you should get a official receipt from the meter. At that point I was very tired and just wanted to go to bed.

Today I need to give my talk at 9:30, so I am working on movies at the last minute of course. It is the last day of the conference, and I am much more tired than I expect to be at this point. I hope it is not something serious and only exhaustion based on lots of walking and the heat.

Lunch was at a reasonable restaurant near the hotel (the one in the hotel was very expensive and also looked horrible). I got a mixed plate of meat, which came with some pita and fries, and also had along with some very tasty sauce which seemed to be a mix of mayo and mustard, although I am not sure.

The conference lasted until about 7pm, and after meeting with Nikos and talking a while it was easily 9pm. Hyeun and I went back to the hotel, stopping along the way to get some drinks from a shop. Fanta orange-ade seems very popular here, and it tastes very nice – it is a orange-like still drink. After that, I needed to stop at the cell phone shop again, because it appeared that the charger that I bought previously was not working. The shopkeeper tested the charger, and then got another charger and tested that as well, and the phone still wouldn’t charge. This is a bad sign – the phone is hopefully not broken completely. Thus begins my decline into desperation.

You see, Greece is fine and nice, but I have a desperate need to stay connected. I realize this after I was so happy to have the internet at the conference, and use it in the Internet cafe the night before. I was looking forward desperately to talking to my lovely, and now it looks like I won’t be able to. I try to buy a new phone at the shop, but it is nearly 10pm now, and they are closing for the night. I walk back to the Hotel, and for the first time since I arrived, I feel completely disconnected from everything near and dear to me. It doesn’t help that the shopkeep doesn’t speak english, but it is not her fault. I break down, and feel a deep sadness and futility rush over me for a while. This is not good. I need to be able to talk to my sweetie.

I try to dial the phone in the room, at this point willing to pay the crazy charges that I would have to pay in order to at least tell Diana that I can’t call her tonight and will have to try tomorrow. It doesn’t seem to work at all, and the phone is dodgy in the room anyway. Calling down to the office, I discover that I cannot (or should not) use the phone in my room because it is very expensive and will need to buy a card from the kiosk down the street. Walking to the kiosk and getting a card, I discover that the card is a pay phone card, and I will need to use the phone outside. I was shown by a nice man how to use the phone, and tried to dial to no avail. I try many times, pushing random buttons before trying to call. Nothing works – I either get a message telling me I dialed incorrectly, or the phone saying Greek words I don’t understand at me. I go back inside the hotel to talk to the owner about how to dial, and he doesn’t know how. I try again in futility a few times, and then ask some students upstairs who are from I don’t know where, but are speaking English anyway, and they tell me I need to dial 001 + number.

I go back out, and wait for the phone to be free again, and dial my sweetie. Voice mail. I need to talk to my honey, and she’s not available. Maybe she is talking to someone. It doesn’t seem to work for call waiting. I try again after a minute or so just in case she is not near the phone. Voice mail again. I leave a message, and go back inside.

The temperature is 110 F (45 C) by the way, which isn’t helping my mood at all. Also not helping is the fact that the metro police are saying that there may be a city-wide blackout, so the hotel manager advises against using the elevator. I wait inside for a while, and try once more. Voice mail still. At this point, I am feeling still very disconnected, but at least I was able to leave a message, so I go back up to my room for a while and lay on the bed a bit. After a bit, I return down to the hot street and try once more. Finally! I get to talk to my sweetie, and the world is right again.

Today’s ordeal has taught me a lot about myself and my comfort zone. I have been helped by the hospitality and graciousness of many people. My world is rooted in connectivity — at least to the people that I hold near to my heart. For a couple of hours today, I was alone in a sea of people, and the world was a horrible place — a living hell. Tomorrow I will buy another cell phone for use here, and the world will have righted itself once again.

I have a built-in downside of having two separate stops before my destination on this trip, mostly due to the ticket being much much cheaper than it would normally be. This means at least 8 hours in airports, waiting for another plane to board or standing in line. It seems like most of the day has been spent charging the laptop, or looking for power.

One thing that I have noted is that when you travel in airports, you need to be wary of power plugs. There are very few available, even it seems in modern airports. Surprisingly, the Iceland airport we stopped at last year on our way to england was much more accommodating for the traveler. This is very frustrating when you land with a dead battery from working on a flight after 7 hours or so, and you can’t charge up for your next flight. I found a wiki online which is trying to map the power available at some airports, and I added a couple entries on my travels just today.

I took a gamble on purchasing wifi from Boingo earlier, and I may sign up again with the “world unlimited” plan before the trip is over. Apparently the plan that I signed up on is 0.12 euro a minute at most locations in Athens, and I can easily see spending more than the ~30 euro it will cost for the month of unlimited. As an added downside, you can’t see your minute charge right away, so I don’t know if I have logged off here at Madrid.

I hope to take a bunch of bad camera phone pictures, but first I need to find a charger and SIM card for my phone. You can keep track of my travels on twitter, I’ll probably be updating it more often due to the high price of internet and relative cheapness of SMS. Suddenly texting has a whole new appeal to me.